A magnificent man in his flying machine
A year later he was at the controls for the first landing of an aircraft in Peterborough.
Thousands gathered to greet him in June 1912 as he arrived at the old golf links in Walton in his aircraft, a 60 HP Cauldron.
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Hide AdAmid the excitement he was presented with a rose bowl by the city’s mayor C. E. Crawley to mark his achivement.
Ewen thrilled the crowds by doing some demonstration flights before he headed off for Lincoln.
But he had barely reached tree height when he hit one and crashed. Fortunately, neither he nor his mechanic was hurt in the accident.
One of the picture shows crowds milling round the crashed plane.
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Hide AdThe first recorded fatality in a civilian air crash in the Peterborough area occured eight years later in 1920.
The last picture was taken before the plane’s fateful flight from opposite the Cock Inn in Werrington.The pilotand two passengers (none of whom are on the picture) died when the wings collapsed as the aircraft looped the loop at 2,000 ft.
One of the dead was a Mr Guest, who was the son of the landlord of the Salmon and Compass pub in Peterborough.